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The stark differences in how the Trump and Obama administrations talk about human rights
Women’s rights—in the form of reproductive rights—didn’t make the cut. And the nomenclature around Israel has changed.
Hillary Clinton, when she was secretary of state under Barack Obama, had added dedicated sections on reproductive rights in country reports, evaluating the state of access to abortion, contraception, and maternal health as well as other reproductive rights (against forced sterilizations, for instance). The first report to include the section was released in 2012, for the previous year.
But the latest report does away with the “reproductive rights” section, replacing it instead with one that focuses exclusively on “coercion in population control,” referring to the World Health Organization for data on maternal mortality and contraception. It skips assessments of availability of abortion or contraceptive measures. A side-by-side comparison with reports from previous years shows drastic change:
Hillary Clinton, when she was secretary of state under Barack Obama, had added dedicated sections on reproductive rights in country reports, evaluating the state of access to abortion, contraception, and maternal health as well as other reproductive rights (against forced sterilizations, for instance). The first report to include the section was released in 2012, for the previous year.
But the latest report does away with the “reproductive rights” section, replacing it instead with one that focuses exclusively on “coercion in population control,” referring to the World Health Organization for data on maternal mortality and contraception. It skips assessments of availability of abortion or contraceptive measures. A side-by-side comparison with reports from previous years shows drastic change:
[link:https://qz.com/1258571/the-state-department-removed-reproductive-rights-from-its-human-rights-report/|
Not unsurprising but still disappointing